Sittingbourne assistant manager Joe Anderson reflects on his return to football after a three-year absence and what’s next for the Brickies

Joe Anderson says he hadn’t realised how much he’d missed football before joining Sittingbourne.

Anderson ended a three-year absence from the game when he joined the Brickies as Reece Prestedge’s assistant manager last November.

Between them, they led Sittingbourne from 12th place to fifth and a third successive Isthmian South East play-off campaign.

They lost in the semi-finals to AFC Croydon but Anderson can look back on a job well done as Sittingbourne set about planning for another promotion tilt next year.

“I didn’t realise how much I’d missed being in football until I was back in,” said Anderson, who finished his playing career at Margate.

“I’ve got two young kids, so I was happy with that stage of my life, but when Prez invited me back in, I didn’t realise how much I probably needed it.

“It’s been really enjoyable. Obviously, we’d have liked promotion, but to go from where we were to where we finished, I think we did pretty well.

“It just felt like every game was a must-win, as silly as that sounds.

“Because we were trying to make up so much ground in a short space of time, if we lost a game or drew, it would really hurt.

“It would always hurt if you didn’t take maximum points anyway but even more so.”

Retired left-back Anderson played under former England manager Roy Hodgson at Fulham and also had a spell with Lincoln City in the Football League.

He won promotion to the National League at Bromley, where he and Prestedge were team-mates, and the duo also played together at Maidstone and Margate.

The Sittingbourne job was his first in coaching, having been approached by Prestedge, and he’s drawn on his experience as a player.

“Where you’ve worked with so many managers over the years, people always say you take a